College basketball: Heavy workload remains refs' call

About 11 p.m. last Saturday, Mike Kitts, Ted Valentine and Mike Sanzere finished refereeing an intense Big Ten men's basketball game between Michigan State and Illinois in East Lansing, Mich.

About 11 p.m. last Saturday, Mike Kitts, Ted Valentine and Mike Sanzere finished refereeing an intense Big Ten men's basketball game between Michigan State and Illinois in East Lansing, Mich.

Almost immediately, they hopped into a vehicle with Big Ten associate commissioner Rick Boyages and headed south on I-69. After sleeping in Fort Wayne, Ind., they finished the 250-mile trip to West Lafayette, where Kitts, Valentine and Sanzere officiated the Ohio State-Purdue game at 1 p.m.

Only the most biased Buckeyes fan would contend that officiating was responsible for Ohio State's 13-point loss. But the sight of watching an officiating crew working on so little rest raises questions about whether referees are stretched too thin.

Among some coaches, it's not even a question.

"I think it needs to be taken a look at at the national level," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "How many games can you do in a row? How fresh can you be if you're done at 11:15 on a Saturday night and do a game on Sunday at noon or 1? How fresh can you possibly be?"Such a quick turnaround is often the rule, not the exception. As of Thursday, Kitts had refereed 84 games this season, according to StatSheet.com. Valentine had worked 76 games and Sanzere 54. In the past month, Kitts has worked consecutive nights 15 times, each time traveling to a different state.

"I think there's probably an ideal, and it's probably about four games a week," said John W. Adams, NCAA coordinator of men's basketball officials. "You can do the math, and it's somewhere between 65 and 75 games. I think more than 75 games and you're entering an area of what I'd call diminishing returns."

But Adams is powerless to enact any changes. The NCAA does not have jurisdiction over referees until its tournament in March. Conferences handle assignments and oversight until then. But referees are independent contractors, not employees of the conferences. As such, they are free to work as many games as possible.

Typically, a league will post an online signup sheet in the summer for referees. Once a ref gets a schedule of assignments from a league, he is free to fill in gaps in his calendar with games in other leagues.

Conferences, naturally, want the best, most experienced referees they can hire, so top officials are always in demand. Referee fees vary from league to league, but it's good money. In top-tier conferences, referees are paid between $1,000 and $2,500 per game, depending on whether expenses are included, sources said. So the incentive to work as many games as possible can be powerful.

"Most of the good ones are working six days a week plus traveling plus holding down regular jobs," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "I feel for the officials, too, because they've got to make money. I don't blame them."

Boyages, a former Ohio State assistant who's in charge of men's basketball officiating for the Big Ten, said he wasn't overly concerned about referees' workload.

"I'm not concerned because it is, and has been, a consistent reality," he said in an e-mail interview. "The most reputable and highly regarded officials work 75-100 games per season simply because they are pursued by multiple conferences."

Boyages said the Big Ten monitors its referees closely. Officials are required to look at a detailed performance review within 24 hours of a given game on a secure website. If an official's performance is deemed unsatisfactory, his schedule can be reduced or eliminated the next season. A ref can be removed from the current season's schedule, but Boyages said that happens rarely.

So refs go from city to city and game to game, enduring travel inconveniences and often-hostile crowds.

"I think some of those guys have to really be conscious of taking care of themselves," Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "When you're traveling six to seven days a week, doing something as physical as refereeing a high-major basketball game, it's got to be very taxing. I don't know how they do it.

"Yeah, I think it's a little bit of an issue."

Yet coaches are hardly consistent. Most prefer to see familiar officials. If a ref is not at 100 percent because of fatigue, well, that's a price they're willing to pay.

"Would you rather have this official who's been in three Final Fours and you know him but it's his fourth game in four nights, or a young guy with no experience?" Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. "I still think you'd go with the older guy that might be a little tired."

The problem is that referees tend to hit a wall when the magnitude of games increases.

"There are three E's I look at in officiating: effort, enthusiasm and engagement," said Adams, the NCAA's officials coordinator. "How hard do I work? Do I really want to be here, and do I look like it? Am I really engaged, or am I trying to find five to 10 seconds where I can mentally rest?

"I see those three E's declining starting in the middle of February. Not in every game and with every official, but it's more prevalent from mid-February through the national tournament than the national coordinator would like to see."

In a perfect world, Adams said, referees would be employees instead of contractors. That way, the NCAA or conferences could ensure that officials aren't overworked and they could have uniform standards.

But Adams said the employee model hasn't gained traction other than as idle chatter at "dinner tables and pool decks."

The reason? Money.

Adams estimated that the increased cost to colleges would be prohibitive and that referees would resist changing the current system. Boyages agreed.

What both Adams and Boyages are doing to lessen the problem is to put a priority on hiring and nurturing younger officials. It hasn't been easy.

Adams said he didn't think there was a single ref in last year's NCAA Tournament younger than 35.

"The intense pressure and high expectations on head coaches creates an environment whereby they're often reluctant to live with the learning curve of young officials," Boyages wrote.

But something has to change. Without an infusion of younger refs to give conferences more flexibility in scheduling, the problem will only worsen.

"We have to figure out a better way," Izzo said. "If you're an NBA official, you only ref 13 days a month. There's a reason."